Day 239 : London Calling

Here we go. It's the London EVE meet up today and I’m tempted to blog the day live (semi live). My new Nexus 4 phone ( the long lost love of my life ) can handle the blogger app so I might as well give it a go. If this post vanishes or stops then you'll know that I just got drunk instead.

6am : awake for an hour listening to cricket on the radio while having a hangover. Cricket going well. Hangover not so much.

9am : Random industry jobs slowed down by said hangover

11am: Shave head. What? That's what I did. 

12pm: Mining, internet nattering, trying to find the name badge from last time that @Heimdall_EVEO made, all while cooking a curry to line my stomach.

I say, this is really thrilling isn't it? You never know whether or not I'll find some paint drying that needs watching.

1pm: Eat curry with tentative, hair of the dog, bottle of San Miguel  

2pm : Curse that I forgot the Six Nations was on TV. Head out to find transport.

3pm: .... 

This blogging thing isn't going very well is it? That's because the Blogger app is shit. I'll update via twitter and fill this in later.

A wretched hive of scum and villany. We must be cautious.

I head in, grab a pint and head straight back out for a smoke a chat with the guys from RAZOR you can see hanging around that table looking disreputable. Good blokes all of them, I'm regaled with interesting stories about the life in null.

There are a lot of guys from PANDA around who a) are wearing silly hats to prove it and b) have some fun stories about helping out the Brave Newbies. I confess that I wish I'd shot at the Brave Newbies and shouted "LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER" at them in Local. Everybody confesses that they'd like to fly with or like the Brave Newbies.

4pm : Already a couple of pints down I head in to find Heimdall and proudly demonstrate that I still have my badge from last time. He hands me another. I now have two badges. This will help later when I get so drunk I don't remember my own name

5pm : I've forgotten about the rugby which is on the big screen. I chat to a few people and watch a bit of that, pacing myself.

6pm : I'm on the fifth pint already. POS fuel is doing the rounds. I avoid this like an old pro. I drank some of it last time. I get chatting to DJ Wiggles from EVE Radio along with Heimdall who made the badges. I tweet about it and some odd stuff happens. Heimdall stands in front of me and starts shouting "Space Noob!". He hasn't made the connection between Space Noob who I tweet and blog as and the name on my badge. I'm amused that I can tap him on the shoulder and say "I'm here". I'm about to do this when I realise other people have taken up the shout of "Space Noob". This includes @Stevie_SG. Having a highly attractive woman shout "Space Noob" out loud to a pub when you are standing there is a dream like experience I will never forget. I'm momentarily stunned. Before I do something stupid like leap over the table, throw myself at her feet and shout "ta dah!" I tap Heimdall on the shoulder and reintroduce myself.

7pm (ish - I have now lost track of time) : CCP Falcon buys me a drink at the bar. This is so the best meta game in the universe. After this I get recognised outside by some pilots "oh you are THAT Space Noob". This is so gratifying that I put my drink down. I shake hands with people. I pick the drink back up. Internet Spaceship Fame is fleeting but beer is forever.

Some time later : I run into In General who I met at the last EVE meet up. I commiserate about a future without VETO and then proceed to get more drunk and laugh about him having a coat that has way, way too many pockets. An ambulance turns up and I nip inside to double check the pint of Speckled Hen I bought Heimdall hadn't sent him over the edge.

Quite late indeed : I get involved in an intense yet amiable argument about whether they used an ambulance in Cannonball  Run I. I say it only happened in the second film. A fellow fan claims it was the first film too. Even the internet can't help us (probably because I'm too drunk to read it). To that pilot (whose name I have, alas, forgotton) kudos on an entertaining drunken argument. I still claim it was the second film only. Get in touch and let me know what you found out.

Even later than that : Quite a few people about are beginning to look worse for wear. One Panda is outside with the smokers trying to get the "fresh" air to sort him out. The smokers are beginning to look like a real world gate camp. I join them and anyone who comes through the door is barracked by cheerful shouts of  Internet Spaceship nerdiness.

Far far too late : Well, not that late in reality but very very late in terms of alcohol consumed. I head inside again and realise that I am, in fact, to put it nicely, absolutely fucking pissed. This is unfortunate for Arianne Stone who has to put up with me when I exclaim loudly and excitedly, introduce myself and start "talking". Sorry Arianne. And apologies also to Vincent Rlyeh who I really wanted to talk to but really, really, can't remember much of what I said. Turn up earlier next time! We must go drinking soon.

At some point I head out into the night, take a wrong turn and find myself completely lost. I'm so drunk I can't even read the map correctly so I employ Dirk Gentlys trick of Zen navigation and follow the first thing that looks like it knows where it is going. After a few tries I get the hang of it and wind up at an underground station. It's here that my memory fails me.

MORNING

6 am : I wake up sprawled across my bed. I have dim memories of watching a documentary on Chas and Dave. How surreal is that? One of my hands is lying in a bowl of Singapore Noodles. At least I ate. I watch Match of the Day while trying to recover but after a few hours it becomes clear that this hangover is going to be an all dayer. I head down the local shop for recovery snacks. A neighbour who passes by me gives me an odd look and I wonder if I've done anything to my face. Walking into the shop, I ponder the classic recovery drink Irn Bru. Small bottle or large? Actually, lets just get two large bottles and play it safe. The bloke behind the counter gives me an odd look too and this is when I realise I'm still wearing a badge that says "Cheradenine Harper" in large letters. I decide to drink my Irn Bru and hide from the world all day.

CONCLUSION

Amazing night out. If you ever get chance to go, just go. If you don't know anyone then say hi to a random with a badge when you get there. Every single person I met was open and friendly. If they are not, come say hi to me.

Downsides? Apart from this hangover? 

1. The people who didn't make it, friends who I talk to everyday or just on the odd day. You know who you are. Tiger Ears also didn't make it. I've still not shook the hand of the Siren of Scanning that removed my fear of probing, which sounds rude but you know what I mean. Tiger Ears : sort it out.

2. Oddly I felt a little timid at times. The great and the powerful are friendly as hell in real life. I need to get over myself and say hi a lot more than I did.

3. CCP Guard was there and I don't think I said hi. I was a little in awe, I confess.

4. I didn't pace myself. I was still meeting new and interesting people when I was too far gone to enjoy it fully.

5. This hangover really deserves a second mention.